You want a bumper, snowboard, bottle, container, concert sticker. You want it to be strong and durable. You choose to have it printed on vinyl, polypropylene/BOPP – bi-axially oriented polypropylene. The problem is that plastic is going to be around long after you are dead.

You want a bumper, snowboard, beverage/bottle, container, concert sticker. You want something strong and durable. You choose to have it printed on vinyl, polypropylene/BOPP – bi-axially oriented polypropylene. The problem is, UNLESS IT IS RECYCLED, that plastic will be going strong long after you are dead. The manufacture of temporary use items have got to be BENIGN BY DESIGN (unfortunately, I didn’t come up with that ‘benign by design,’ other, much smarter people did). The deal is, plastic doesn’t just disappear, nope, it becomes a bigger problem somewhere else – like in the ocean where it joins other bits and pieces of plastic detritus. Just like your toilet when it’s clogged and floating in circles, except that paper and… uh, you know, will break down in a short period of time, while that plastic will still be around long after you and I are gone. The alternatives to plastic are stocks made from Fiberstone, a new stock made from wood cellulose that is compostable in your typical backyard composter and Made Carbon Neutral, EarthfirstPLA which is made from plants like beets, corn, etc.

Vinyl stickers are made from polymers/petroleum oil and take hundreds if not thousands of years to break down and degrade. Once they degrade, those microscopic polymers enter the food stream where animals, fish and birds inadvertently (i.e, ocean plankton) eat them – wreaking havoc either with their DNA or killing them since the polymers are undigestible.

Made from Plants and compostable

Vinyl stickers are made from polymers/petroleum oil and take hundreds if not thousands of years to break down and degrade. Once they degrade, those microscopic polymers enter the food stream where animals, fish and birds inadvertently (i.e, ocean plankton) eat them – wreaking havoc either with their DNA or killing them since the polymers are undigestible.

Yes, no doubt, vinyl lasts much longer than normal stickers, especially if they are screen printing, but, SO WHAT – is a slightly longer lasting sticker worth the long-term damage our children and their children and children’s children will be forced to deal with.

“Design, first and foremost, is concerned with solving problems, but from where we currently stand, at the beginning of a new millennium, we survey a landscape strewn with the detritus of outmoded human practices, aided by or facilitated through design, that have had a catastrophic effect on the world’s ecosystems.”

Like to acknowledge the Print & Production Finishes for Sustainable Design by Edward Denison published by Rotovision 2009

“Design, first and foremost, is concerned with solving problems, but from where we currently stand, at the beginning of a new millennium, we survey a landscape strewn with the detritus of outmoded human practices, aided by or facilitated through design, that have had a catastrophic effect on the world’s ecosystems.”

Edward Denison has written a beautiful book featuring ‘green’ printed media/packaging from around the world. I’m thrilled Plan It Green Printing is featured in this book!

Seven of our jobs/clients have beautiful spreads in this green print resource book.

Commercial ‘Green’ Printing

Today, companies, cities and non-profits see the benefit in green printing: From meeting packaging laws on compostability and recycling, to the obvious branding opportunities. From USA Pavilion World Expo 2015 to World Centric, companies, colleges and cities buy and prefer ‘green’ when given a choice.

Today, the choices of ‘green’ stocks, methods of ‘green’ printing, ‘green’ certification bodies require an education in itself: Biopolymers, tree-free, stone, cellulose.
Now, large and small, Religious, Environmental, Animal and Scientific Groups/Organizations/Faiths are concerned and advocating for sustainability and against water pollution, plastics/degradation of plastic and it’s affect on animals and humans. Your Company's Printing is a necessity, but where is the stock printed on coming from? China, Taiwan, Canada, Indonesia or the U.S. of A? If the paper is coming from Indonesia or Canada, for instance, it's quite probably contributing to deforestation which, in turn, is contributing to the extinction of the native species, i.e., orangutan, tiger population.

Deforestation, extinction, this list goes on and on and out to an increasingly well-informed public. Clients and customers are demanding to know how the Companies products are printed and packaged. Are the inks petroleum or vegetable-based? Are your inks low V.O.C. (volatile organic compounds)? Is your paper and packaging FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), SFI (Sustainably Forestry Initiative) or BEP (Best Environmental Practices) Certified? Was it Made Carbon Neutral? Are your labels compostable?!!!

Since 2003 Plan It Green Printing has been helping companies green their print practices.